This invention relates to a printing apparatus for printing a variety of information such as an image and a character to a recording medium, such as a card, and more particularly to a printing apparatus that is capable of switching printing methods according to characteristics of the recording medium or the information that is to be recorded.
Conventionally, a thermal transfer printing apparatus has been used to record a desired image or a character on a card recording medium such as a credit card, a cash card, a license card or an ID card by thermally transferring with a thermal head via a thermal transfer film. As an example, in Japanese Patent Publication (TOKKAI) No. 09-131930, a printing apparatus using a direct transfer method has been disclosed. The apparatus directly transfers an image and a character to a recording medium via a thermal transfer film. This method has an advantage of attaining a high quality image due to thermal sublimate ink. However, a recording medium needs to have a receptive layer on its printing surface to receive the ink. Therefore, only limited recording medium can be used, or the receptive layer needs to be formed on the surface of a recording medium.
Generally, a card made of a polyvinyl chloride (known as a PVC card) has been widely used as the recording medium that can receive the thermal sublimate ink. However, since the PVC card generates toxic substances when burned, recently it has been tried to switch to a card made of a polyethylene terephthalate (also known as a PET card). However, since the PET card is made of a crystalline polymer, it is difficult to apply not only thermal sublimate printing, but also embossing. Thus, when it is necessary to emboss a surface of the recording medium, the PVC card needs to be used.
Furthermore, in recent years, a new type of card media such as an IC card, which embeds an IC chip or antenna inside, has been used in a variety of fields. Because of the embedded element, this type of card has an uneven surface, resulting in a printing problem.
In Japanese Patent Publication (TOKKAI) No. 08-58124, a printing apparatus using an indirect transfer technology, in which an image is transferred to an intermediate transfer medium once then transferred to a final recording medium, has been disclosed to solve the above problem. According to this method, it is possible to overcome the problems such as limited recording medium related to the receptive layer or the issue of printing on an uneven surface of the recording medium. Furthermore, this method makes it easier to print an image on an entire surface of the card medium as opposed to the direct transfer method. However, it is necessary to use the intermediate transfer medium, resulting in higher operating costs and longer time to print than the direct transfer method.
In Japanese Patent Publication (TOKKAI) No. 11-263032, an image forming portion for forming an image on a belt-shaped transfer sheet (an intermediate transfer film) is disposed at an upper portion, and a retransfer portion for re-transferring the image transferred to the transfer sheet to a card as the received image is disposed at lower portion. When the image is formed on the transfer sheet, the sheet is transported in a vertical direction with respect to the apparatus. While the card is being transported in a horizontal direction after passing a sheet return path, the image is re-transferred to the card.
However, in the indirect transfer method, it is common to arrange a transfer device for transferring an image to the intermediate transfer film and a re-transfer device for re-transferring an image to the recording medium in series in a direction along the transport path of the recording medium where an image is re-transferred to a surface of the recording medium from the intermediate transfer film. Therefore, a recording medium supply portion for supplying a blank card (a card with no print) and a recording medium discharge portion for discharging the card after the printing process need to be arranged at both ends along the recording medium transport path, resulting in a larger overall apparatus. To meet minimum volume requirement, an apparatus tends to have an elongated rectangular shape with very limited flexibility in design.
Further, in Japanese Patent Publication (TOKKAI) No. 11-263032, the image forming portion and the transfer portion are disposed at upper and lower positions to minimize a size, but it is limited to the indirect transfer method.
Therefore, it will be beneficial to provide a printing apparatus having two features; an apparatus that can switch a printing method between the direct transfer method and the indirect transfer method depending on a purpose and information relating to printing, such as surface and characteristics of the recording medium including material of the recording medium such as PVC or PET, embossed surface, embedded an IC element, and an entire surface printing; and an apparatus that has a compact size with an efficient component arrangement. It is expected for such a printing apparatus to be used more widely.
An object of the present invention is to provide a compact printing apparatus that can switch between the direct transfer method and the indirect transfer method to print, while maintaining transport performance of recording medium and a processing capacity.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus that can switch between the direct transfer method and the indirect transfer method to print, while keeping design freedom for a compact apparatus without becoming an elongated shape.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.
In order to attain the aforementioned objectives, a print apparatus according to the present invention is equipped with the first recording media transport path having at least one printing device for selectively forming an image on a recording medium and an intermediate transfer medium; the second recording media transport path having a transfer device to transfer the image formed on the intermediate transfer medium to the recording medium; and a turning portion for changing a direction of the recording medium to the first recording media transport path and the second recording media transport path.
The first recording media transport path and the second recording media transport path are arranged to intersect each other, and the turning portion is arranged at the intersecting position. Thus, it is possible to arrange the first recording media transport path and the second recording media transport path in a substantially vertical state. It is also possible to arrange the first recording media transport path and the second recording media transport path in a substantially horizontal state, or to arrange either of the transport paths substantially vertically with regard to the other. Furthermore, it is acceptable to dispose a recording medium discharge outlet to discharge the recording medium at an end portion of the second recording media transport path.
Further, the apparatus is provided with an encoder portion to magnetically or electrically record on the recording medium. The turning portion is configured for supplying the recording medium to the first or the second recording media transport path and for receiving the recording medium between the first and the second recording media transport path as well as between the encoder portion. The turning portion may include the first and the second turning member to rotate or invert the recording medium. One of the first and second turning members sends the recording medium to the first or second recording media transport path and receives the recording medium between the first and second recording media transport path. The other receives the recording medium between the encoder portion. Furthermore, the first and second turning members may be linked in a vertical direction, and the printing device may be disposed in an upward direction. The transfer device may be disposed on a side direction, and the encoder portion may be disposed in a direction below the transfer device.
Also, at least an eject outlet may be arranged for ejecting the recording medium, which is detected to have a processing error during a recording process at the encoder portion. The turning portion can rotate the rejected recoding medium to discharge the same to the eject outlet.
Other objectives and features of the present invention will be clearly explained in a detailed description of the preferred embodiments below based upon provided drawings.